Steven Davi beme the first openly gay profsnal cricketer - and has never been happier | Daily Mail Onle

Contents:

• GAY CRICKETERS WON’T E OUT UNTIL ‘STIGMA’ IS KNOCKED FOR SIX, BOSS WARNED
• YOU WILL BE SHOCKED TO KNOW THE INDIAN CRICKETERS ARE GAYS!
• COLLEGE & PROFSNAL ATHLET WHO ARE OPENLY GAY
• OPENLY GAY CRICKETERS
• STEVEN DAVI BEME THE FIRST OPENLY GAY PROFSNAL CRICKETER - AND HAS NEVER BEEN HAPPIER
• CRICKETER JAM FLKNER SAYS HE IS NOT GAY AFTER SOCIAL MEDIA 'MISUNRSTANDG'

GAY CRICKETERS WON’T E OUT UNTIL ‘STIGMA’ IS KNOCKED FOR SIX, BOSS WARNED

Cricketer Steve Davi is the first and only English male pro to e out as gay. Gay cricket ach and activist Sam Schofield has cricised the England and Wal Cricket Board (ECB) for “lettg down” the LGBTQ+ muny.

After Jake Daniels beme England’s first pro male footballer to e out as gay more than three s, Schofield spoke of the need for more LGBTQ+ role mols cricket. Comparatively, the women’s divisn has players like Natalie Sciver and Kathere Bnt, an openly gay cricketer uple.

As part of Wisn Cricket Monthly’s seri on cricket’s diversy problem, Tanya Aldred nsir why the number of openly gay male profsnal cricketers England still stands at one, and looked to the women’s game for a more acceptg published issue 38 of Wisn Cricket MonthlyThe long reach of Covid’s cel fgers means that next year’s Sydney Gay Pri will shuffle and shimmer away om s faiar lotn on Oxford Street. Meanwhile, across large parts of the cricketg world, homosexualy is illegal. In Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Domi, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, while male homosexualy is prohibed Grenada, Guyana, Jamai, St Kts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vcent and the Grenad, Zimbabwe, Banglash and Pakistan.

YOU WILL BE SHOCKED TO KNOW THE INDIAN CRICKETERS ARE GAYS!

Not fettg Pakistan’s home om home recent years and the hosts of this year’s IPL, the UAE, where the maximum penalty for homosexualy is ath, as is the game n swg so far between acceptance and nmnatn is no real surprise.

Chuck a knuckle ball of hyper-masculy to the mix, an tense team environment and, tradnally, largely male mentary and spectators, and you create a place where is difficult to be different, let alone gay. Jt recent years, South Ai’s Marizanne Kapp and Dane van Niekerk and New Zealand’s Amy Satterthwae and Lea Tahuhu have married, while Atralians Elyse Villani and Nila Carey and Rachael Hayn and Leah Poulton pose happily together on the red, for gay cricketers of eher sex, the path to acceptance is strewn wh hazards. Teammat love: England’s Natalie Sciver and Kathere Bnt are engaged***“There’s nothg wrong wh beg gay”When Joe Root pulled Wt Indian fast bowler Shannon Gabriel up for homophobic language durg the St Lucia Tt 2019, felt like a watershed moment for Christopher Sherwood, a member of the Grac CC – the world’s first gay cricket club.

“It felt very important as a perfect example of how to rpond to sual homophobia and a great example of role mollg, as historilly people may have feared speakg out as they uld be perceived as potentially homosexual. What did is empower other straight men to stand up for homosexual men. He was sanctned unr the player of nduct but, later 2019, the ICC pulled all s anti-discrimatn legislatn to one anti-discrimatn which specifilly prohibs a wi range of behavur, cludg homophobia.

COLLEGE & PROFSNAL ATHLET WHO ARE OPENLY GAY

Cricket always felt like my people, we’re all cut om a siar cloth… We’re not all gay but we’re ntually on a qut to unrstand each other, takg the time to unrstand difference. ”***People sometim ask Christopher Sherwood why, the 21st century, there is the need for a gay cricket club the UK.

“There are long held stereotyp agast gay men society and we are there to change perceptns. Facebook advertisg n be very specific and we targeted those who had shown an tert cricket and homosexualy, and we got a whole lot of ments that were exprsly homophobic:‘WTF is gog on this world. ’ Gettg to ele-level sport is not easy; beg gay and feelg like an outsir might make that much more difficult.

OPENLY GAY CRICKETERS

In 2010, Jam Anrson posed naked Attu magaze, followg the bare feet of Vnie Jon, David Beckham, Ben Cohen, Freddie Ljungberg and Gareth Febary 2011, Steven Davi, of England and Surrey (now Somerset), revealed that he was gay an terview wh the Daily Telegraph.

(Prev to him there was Alan Hansford, who played for Ssex between 1989 and 1992, and who revealed he was gay ep to retirement, and Gee Cecil Iv, who played one match for MCC 1902, had a flg wh Lord Aled Douglas, and worked to reform the law for gay people.

” But also brought an avalanche of terrible homophobia. Anyone nsirg g out might well have had a quick glance at the ments sectn and thought better of Cowen, an ECB media manager who works largely women’s cricket, and who is himself gay, n unrstand any reluctance.

STEVEN DAVI BEME THE FIRST OPENLY GAY PROFSNAL CRICKETER - AND HAS NEVER BEEN HAPPIER

“If a big-name gay player who had an IPL ntract me out, I don’t thk would affect their reer and earngs, but I’m sure would rema an credibly difficult thg to do. There is somethg very nice that we have an openly gay men’s player unty cricket and don’t have to be what f him as a person, jt as beg straight don’t fe other people. Unsurprisgly, she was irrated when, wh a few months of Christmas 2019, Marc Stois and Jam Pattson were both sanctned for homophobic slurs.

It’s disappotg that we still e that language, and I don’t believe that those boys actually are homophobic, I tly don’t.

CRICKETER JAM FLKNER SAYS HE IS NOT GAY AFTER SOCIAL MEDIA 'MISUNRSTANDG'

In 2017, a Culture, Media and Sport Commtee report lled for fans who display homophobic attus at sports match to face immediate, lengthy bans on attendg gam.